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The Battle of Willowdale
'' You brace yourself as the sounds of rhythmic marching grow in intensity. All roads lead here. All roads lead to the wall. You pray you are ready.'' The hobgoblin legion, Legio XIII, attacked Willowdale on the eve of Leafall the 30th, the night before Samhain. The defence of Willowdale was led by General Wilson of the United Laurasian Defense Force. After fighting through the night and into the early morning of Samhain, the Laurasian forces emerged victorious, and the hobgoblins and their allies fled upon the defeat of their leader, the Praetor. A few months after the battle's end, a memorial garden, proposed by Ruthea, was constructed in town to honour those whose lives were lost in the battle. "The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of the aftermath" Preparations Preparation for the defence of the Great Wall at Willowdale began on the 10th of Leafall, spurred on by the Secret Society of Willowdale. With the arrival of Colonel Boyd came a request for proof of the threat in order for further Laurasian troops to be dispatched. A team of Pathfinders raided the hobgoblin camp and discovered the exact date of their planned invasion: the 30th of Leafall. With this information, General Wilson and a small advance force were able to make it to Willowdale to lead the defence; the majority of his forces arrived ten days after the battle to assist with repairs. The Reveal at the Church On the night of the 27th, Dr. Haiduc cast a Symbol of Revelation at a public address outside the Temple of Yoma. Several prominent citizens of Willowdale were revealed to be changelings, including Ned and Lieutenant Cleaves. The Pathfinders captured or otherwise subdued six shapechangers, several of them armed with knives coated in deathblade poison. Dr. Haiduc was poisoned, but prompt medical aid restored him to good health by the next morning. Only three changelings were captured alive after the chaos; the others were either killed or had committed suicide using a black lotus poison capsule that they had stored in one of their back teeth. Upon interrogation, one of the changelings, who went by the name of Joshua Curry, was found to simply be a man who had been living peacefully as a human miller for the last ten years. He was kept confined until after the battle as a precaution, but met his untimely end during the battle. After the changelings had been dealt with, a search party quickly found Ned's body at his secret fishing hole, and he was resurrected. Willowdale's Allies In the days leading up to the fight, messengers were sent out to neutral and friendly parties to request their aid in the defence of the wall: *The firewalkers volunteered many of their warriors to flank the hobgoblins by attacking from the Great Cedar Forest. *The town of Marten's Dam was apathetic to the cause; Krag Bashman, the former Burgomaster, was the only individual who volunteered his assistance. *Sixteen of Gullykin's finest halfling sling warriors came to assist. *Seven druidic acolytes, including Terminus, from the Ravenswood Druid Circle took shelter and gave medical aid. *The Knights of the Post fought in exchange for a chance at a pardon for their crimes. *Several gods, spirits, and magical beings lend their favour: the Arch-Psion and the Axehand, St. Christopher, Nethys, Coyote, The Storm King, the Nymph of the Lake, and the Sisters of Sand. Legio XIII's Allies *A non-aggression treaty was signed with The Necromancer, who sent his first three disciples to lead a small undead contingent *A non-aggression treaty was signed with the orcs of Sawtooth Vale, who sent a fighting force. *After the hobgoblins destroyed their "gods", the Skull-Taker and Barking Wilder clans were strong-armed into joining the hobgoblin army. *A small number of lizardfolk and ogres were also seen fighting for Legio XIII; their motivations are unknown. The Battle The First Wave At 10 bells on the evening of the 30th of Leafall, the first lines of the invading forces were spotted from the wall. The fighting began when the Barking Wilders and Skull-Takers clashed with the Firewalkers in the Golden Fields. When the goblins' numbers had depleted, the Praetor himself teleported to the front lines in order to lead the first of the hobgoblins to the wall, pausing only to taunt the Pathfinders into fighting him on level ground. After knocking aside several of the Pathfinders' ranged and magical attacks, he was distracted by an alluring dance from Ru. The Praetor snapped out of his stupor and teleported away when subjected to a concentrated attack from the Pathfinders, including the sundering of this shield by Alyenna and Kat's attempt to dispel his magical enchantments. By 2 bells in the morning of Samhain, nearly 100 of Willowdale's defenders had been wounded or killed. It was suspected that the hobgoblins had lost nearly three times this amount. The Long Night During a lull in the fighting, the First, riding a nightmare, approached the wall for a negotiation. He proposed to call off the Necromancer's forces in exchange for the surrender of all those who had trespassed in his master's territory, which amounted to every Pathfinder. His terms were rejected, and the legion of skeletons behind him pressed their attack against the wall. Further, he raised those who had fallen in battle as undead who continued to fight for him. Shortly thereafter, the Third flew over the wall to attack Willowdale's seige weaponry, but was turned away by Erevis using a boredom-inducing spell. Meanwhile, a burrowing trio of ankhegs created a tunnel that led many of the skeletons behind the wall and into Willowdale itself, but was quickly collapsed by Jord and Ru before too many assailants could breach the perimeter. Rain, Halstein, and Gorgoroth passed through the tunnel to the other side of the wall, destroying many of the enemy before being forced to retreat. The Second also flew over the wall riding a wyvern, which was blinded by Erevis and then slain by Alejandra, prompting the lich to flee. The hobgoblins' seige towers were brought in at this time, but were taken down by the use of a Wand of Warp Wood by Kat and a fireball from Valconey. Hoards of orcs and some lizardfolk accompanied the hobgoblins at this time, who proceeded to attack the wall into the early hours of the morning. As the sun began to rise at six bells, the orcs fled the battle. By first light, Willowdale's casualties numbered 600, while the invading armies were thought to have lost over 1000. The Reverend Mother and Krag Bashman were killed during the night. The Reverend Mother was later raised. The Final Push As the sun rose above the horizon, the Praetor once more appeared at the wall to lead his forces from the front line. His hobgoblins gave him a wide birth as he issued a challenge to fight any champion from among Willowdale's forces. General Willson ordered the Pathfinders to kill the Preator in order to demoralize the hobgoblin forces. All of the Pathfinders climbed down the barricaded wall to the Golden Fields so as to accept the Preator's challenge, save Wavlyn, who remained on the wall. Just as the champions' fight was about to begin, the First landed on top of the wall, mounted on an enlarged and dominated young green dragon. He struck out against the Pathfinders with a maximized cold-fireball, leaving most of them close to death. The Praetor empowered himself with Righteous Might before striking back at the Pathfinders with his flail, Warmonger. Halstein was able to sunder the Praetor's enchanted armor after several powerful blows, but a Circle of Death cast by the First nearly killed Gorgoroth, though summoned creatures took the brunt of the spell. Several of the Preator's magical enchantments were dispelled by Kat, including his Righteous Might, enraging him. Meanwhile, the First drew a strange magical cube which he transformed into a gun in order to shoot at Wavlyn and at Ru who had climbed back up the wall to assist the wizard. The green dragon, after sustaining some serious wounds, was freed from his Domination by Dr. Haiduc and fled the battle, leaving the First stranded. The First was flung from the wall, but he slowed this fall magically and cast a further cold spell, which knocked out several Pathfinders and very nearly killed Rain, if not for some quick magical healing from Jura. On his last legs, the Preator was grappled by Alejandra, encased in a sphere of water by Kat, and pierced by a leaping dive off the wall from Ru. A combined assault from Wavlyn and Dr. Haiduc's summoned rhino managed to fell the First, and moments later, the Preator was killed by Alejandra's divine smite. With their leader slain, the last of the hobgoblins fled the battle. The first snowflakes of the season drifted down to cover the horrors of the night in a thin white coating. Category:Willowdale Category:History